


heart like a techno beat

by ithilien22



Category: Glee
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-03
Updated: 2010-10-03
Packaged: 2017-10-13 00:43:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/130913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ithilien22/pseuds/ithilien22
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mike's not gay, he just really likes techno music.</p>
            </blockquote>





	heart like a techno beat

**Author's Note:**

> Written for round two of the Livejournal contest diva_off, for the prompt, _Heartbeats_.

The first time Mike Chang goes to a dance club, he's twelve. He's visiting family in Beijing and his older cousins begrudgingly agree to drag him along. The club is dark and slightly cramped, a sticky haze of sweat and alcohol filling the air and pushing against his lungs. But Mike hardly notices anything besides the movement – bodies pressed together, bringing to life the music that pulses through each of them. He desperately wants to jump in and move with them, to feel the beat with his whole body the way that they all seem to, but he feels awkward and small in comparison. So that first night he only watches, and yet he can still feel himself start to fall.

The first time Mike goes to a _gay_ dance club, he's sixteen. He tells his parents he's staying with his best friend Matt while Matt tells his parents he's staying with Mike and instead they drive Matt's old VW Rabbit up to Toledo: a daring quest to find any semblance of the nightlife that is practically nonexistent back in Lima. Mike only picks Distractions because he sees the crowd of smokers that spill out the side entrance and judges it to be an easy target to infiltrate, not paying particular attention to the _type_ of clientele lingering about or the fact that there don't seem to be any women present. It's not until they've successfully snuck inside that both he and Matt realize their mistake.

But by then, the music has already taken a firm hold on Mike's heart. He can feel the heavy beat thrum through his veins and he finds himself shooting a pleading look at his best friend, begging that they stay for at least one song. But one song turns into two and then three and before Mike knows what's happening, the bartender is signaling for last call and they've been there for over three hours. Matt's a good sport about it. He lets guys buy him drinks all night and gets pleasantly hammered, so that helps. But when he sobers up the next morning, he makes it clear that this was a one time thing. If Mike suddenly wants to be gay, that's fine, but he can't expect Matt to keep going to gay clubs with him. Mike responds to this declaration by smacking Matt upside the head.

It's sort of a guy code for, _I love you too, man_.

But in the end, Mike does keep coming back to Distractions. He tries other clubs, but the gangster rap and auto-tuned pop music can't ever seem to hold him. The beat just isn't right, and he finds himself longing for the steady _thumpa thumpa_ that always manages to keep perfect time with his heart.

One night, he sees a familiar face in the crowd: Kurt Hummel, a kid he goes to school with back in Lima. They stare at each other from across the room for several long seconds, before both turning away, embarrassed. By the time Mike finally looks back up and scans the crowd again, Kurt is already gone.

The next Monday is worse, though, because Kurt corners him after glee club rehearsal and tries to talk to him about it. Mike knows what Kurt must be thinking, so he ducks his head and bites the bullet, telling Kurt that he isn't actually gay. Kurt's posture tenses, defensive, so Mike adds a _no offense_ to his statement, instantly feeling like an idiot. But Kurt just smiles slightly and cocks his head to the side, so Mike thinks it's probably ok. He smiles back and before he can stop himself, it all comes pouring out of him in a rush of excitement – the thrill he felt the first time he went to the club, the way the music always fills him up, how the _thumpa thumpa_ of the techno beat makes him feel alive as he dances. Kurt looks a little bewildered but he listens to Mike's babbling without comment and even nods along like he understands the feeling.

Mike stops to take a breath and suddenly realizes what he's done. It's more words than he's ever spoken to _anyone_ in his life, let alone to a kid he barely knows. He feels a steady blush start to creep up the back of his neck and he rubs at it self-consciously.

"I just…like to dance," he finishes awkwardly.

But Kurt just smiles up at him – a real smile, big and genuine.

"Yeah," he says with a laugh. "I got that."


End file.
